South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer’s heated frustrations were on full display during the Citrus Bowl, ending in an overly dramatic scene where he had to be held back by referees during an injury timeout. The incident happened late in the third quarter of the Gamecocks 21-17 loss to Illinois, with the altercation allegedly stemming from what Beamer perceived as taunting by Illinois head coach Bret Bielema.
Tension escalated after Illinois defensive back Jaheim Clark went down with an injury during the Citrus Bowl. As Bielema checked on his player, he allegedly gestured toward Beamer, which the South Carolina coach interpreted as mocking. According to Beamer, the gesture referenced a trick kickoff return play earlier in the third quarter that had set up South Carolina’s final game touchdown.
The college football trick play featured a fake touchback from South Carolina kickoff returner Juju McDowell, who threw a lateral to standout wide receiver Nyck Harbor. Harbor advanced the ball 25 yards, igniting a five-play drive that culminated in the Gamecocks’ last score of the game.
Beamer believed Bielema was still upset about the trick play, so he used the injury timeout to express his displeasure. After the game, he detailed his perspective on the exchange to clarify the legality of his controversial kickoff return strategy.
“I think his issue was when we threw the throw-back kickoff return, our kickoff returner did this, which most teams signal as a touchback,” Beamer said. “You’re allowed to do that as long as you don’t do a waving motion. I cleared it with the Big 12 officials before the game. They said, ‘Yeah, just as long as he doesnt wave the arms.'”
Beamer went on to criticize Bielema’s alleged actions during the timeout. “You have to ask him why he didn’t take it up with the officials and why he felt the need to come over here while his player was on the ground, and look at me and say something to me and do that motion at me like I was full of you-know-what,” Beamer continued. “I thought that was bush league, just to be completely honest. Ive got my own team to worry about.”
Despite the heated exchange, Beamer gave respect for Bielema but was disappointed in how the whole situation unfolded. “I’ve got a ton of respect for Coach Bielema. I thought that was uncalled for, especially when his own player is on the ground hurt,” he added.
Bielema denied taunting after the game and said the gesture was directed at his own sideline. The Illinois coach confirmed that the kick return/timeout play violated an “unwritten philosophy” in college football that protects players from injury.
“There’s an unwritten philosophy in coaching when you do [the substitution gesture] as a college kickoff return guy, what we’re doing is you telling everyone else that it is going to be a fair catch and it’s going to be dead at the end zone,” he explained. “The reason we do that is kickoff and kickoff returns are the highest percentage of injury in the sport.”
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